The Primary Maths Podcast

Are we sometimes making maths harder to learn than it needs to be? In this episode of AfterMaths , Jon and Becky explore cognitive load theory and what it means for teaching primary maths. From trying to remember a recipe to learning a musical theatre routine, they consider why our working memory can become overwhelmed — and what that tells us about the demands we place on children in the classroo...

Subtraction isn't always about taking something away. So why do we so often teach it that way? Before we get into that, check out our free upcoming CPD sessions: Informal Multiplication: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/l/w7xeg Practical Techniques to Reduce Cognitive Load in Primary Maths: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/l/ij2cs In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast: Aftermaths , Jon and Becky explore th...

Addition is one of the first mathematical operations children meet, but that doesn’t mean it’s simple. In this episode of AfterMaths , Jon and Becky take a closer look at what it really means to understand addition. They explore why knowing lots of different strategies matters, why column addition should be a tool rather than the destination, and why Jon has, somewhat inexplicably, developed a fav...

Why do some pupils seem to thrive in maths while others struggle to access the same lesson? Jon and Becky discuss the latest PISA findings and the widening gap between higher and lower attainers, before exploring what that looks like in real primary classrooms. They talk about teaching for mastery, adaptive teaching, pre-teaching, the pressures of a packed timetable and why taking time to simply o...

How can the universe be 13.8 billion years old but the observable universe be around 93 billion light years across? In this AfterMaths Summer Special, Jon is joined by primary science specialist Sarah Hutson to tackle some of the wonderfully ridiculous numbers involved in trying to understand the universe. They talk solar eclipses, meteor showers, shooting stars, the speed of light, the size of th...

Can maths help you win at games? In this AfterMaths Summer Special, Jon and Becky explore the line between luck and strategy — and whether understanding the maths behind a game can actually give you an advantage. They take in Rock Paper Scissors, Noughts & Crosses, chess, a deceptively simple counting game, the chessboard-and-rice problem, expected value, roulette and the mathematics hiding in...

Can maths really predict the future? We can predict the return of a comet decades in advance, but tomorrow's weather can still catch us completely by surprise. In this AfterMaths Summer Special, Jon and Becky explore why some futures are easier to calculate than others. From probability, forecasts and projections to Halley’s Comet, the phantom planet Vulcan and Edward Lorenz's discovery of chaos t...

Podcast Show Notes What makes a route the best route? The shortest distance? The quickest journey? The cheapest option? Or simply whichever one Google tells you to take? In this AfterMaths Summer Special, Jon and Becky explore the maths of getting away — from Google Maps and traffic predictions to queues, theme parks and an 18th-century puzzle that helped create an entirely new area of mathematics...

Who decided how long a metre should be? Why is a mile 1,760 yards? And what connects the French Revolution, an expedition from Dunkirk to Barcelona and the speed of light? In this AfterMaths Summer Special, Jon and Becky explore the messy, surprising and occasionally bewildering history of measurement. They begin in a world before standard units, when lengths were measured using hands, feet, cubit...

Probability often feels as though it should be intuitive, right up until the mathematics tells us that our instincts are completely wrong. In this AfterMaths Summer Special, Jon and Becky explore the strange mathematics of chance. From rainy-day board games and rolling two dice to coin-toss streaks, lottery numbers and casino myths, they investigate why humans are so determined to find patterns in...

Why did the six-week summer holiday feel endless when we were children, yet now seems to disappear almost as soon as it begins? In the first of the 2026 Aftermaths Summer Specials, Jon and Becky explore the strange relationship between time, age and memory. They consider the popular proportional theory of time, the role of novelty in creating richer memories and the “return-trip effect”, which can...

What do this year’s KS2 SATs results really tell us about primary maths—and what might they be hiding? Jon and Becky examine the newly released national data, including the rise in maths attainment, the return of greater-depth results to pre-pandemic levels and the growing number of pupils working below the level of the tests. They discuss why a single score can never tell the whole story, why mis...

In this episode of the Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky ask whether we need to change the way we teach maths during a heatwave. With classrooms getting hotter and the end of term in sight, they explore what heat can do to attention, working memory, processing speed and classroom engagement. Is it just children being tired and sticky, or is there a genuine cognitive load issue at play? They al...

World Cup Maths, Equity and Oracy in the Primary Classroom In this episode of the Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky talk end-of-year school chaos, transition days, classroom moves, and the strange joy of finding a trolley when you really need one. The main discussion begins with reflections from the East Midlands West Maths Hub summer conference, where the focus was on equity in maths. Jon sha...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky reflect on the realities of summer term: heatwaves, report writing, and the heroic act of trying to teach when everyone is melting. They then turn to problem solving in primary maths, asking whether it should really be saved for the end of the year, or whether pupils need regular, explicit teaching of the skills that help them tackle unf...

In this aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky take a look back at this year’s KS2 maths SATs papers and ask what teachers and maths leads might learn from them. They discuss why the tests should be seen as end-of-key-stage assessments rather than simply Year 6 tests, explore the balance of content across the papers, and reflect on the importance of flexible mathematical t...

In this lighter half-term Aftermaths episode, Jon and Becky take a wander through some of the unexpected maths hiding in everyday life. First up: Samba the escaped capybara, who, at the time of recording, was still causing confusion somewhere near Hampshire. Is it a capybara? Is it a muntjac deer? Has someone accidentally taken in the world’s largest “stray cat”? Hard to say. Becky then takes us i...

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon and Becky chat about the strange, busy, slightly chaotic stretch of the school year just before half term, from transition days and sports events to staffing conversations and year group changes. They reflect on how different primary teaching can feel from one year group to another, and why every phase, from EYFS and Key Stage 1 through...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast , Jon is joined by Paul Milner and Julie Pompa from National Numeracy to talk about number confidence, family engagement and the role schools can play in helping children and adults feel more positive about maths. Paul and Julie share the story behind National Numeracy’s work, including why adult numeracy matters and how confidence can be just as import...

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon and Becky reflect on a very maths-filled week, from Key Stage 2 SATs to International Women in Mathematics Day, with a little bit of football stadium chat thrown in for good measure. Jon and Becky begin by talking about SATs week and the difficult balance teachers face in preparing children well without making the tests feel bigger than...

Becky is back from America, which means Aftermaths is back to its usual rhythm of maths chat, gentle chaos and slightly overconfident linking between topics. In this episode, Jon and Becky begin by looking ahead to Key Stage 2 SATs week, reflecting on the pressure pupils, parents and schools can feel, while also remembering some of the stranger moments from past SATs papers, including giraffes, wa...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by Bryn Llewellyn from Move and Learn, Paula Manser, headteacher at Birkby Infant and Nursery School, and Danielle Laramie, maths lead and assistant headteacher at Birkby. Together, they explore what active learning really means in primary maths and, just as importantly, what it does not mean. This is not about children running around the...

In this Aftermaths episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by returning guest Ash Morris for a Friday conversation that begins with National Space Day and ends with one of the most talked-about education reports of the week. Ash shares some suitably mind-bending space facts, including moon rocks, sunlight, Apollo, Artemis and why the Moon might be thought of as Earth’s child. Jon also...

In this episode of The Primary Maths Podcast, Jon is joined by Kate Henshall and Kat Martin from Rethink Maths for a conversation about lesson design, task design and how we help children move beyond simply completing work towards deeper mathematical thinking. Kate and Kat share their own experiences of maths at school, including how conceptual understanding, representations and manipulatives tran...

In this Aftermaths episode, Jon and Becky dig into one of the biggest ongoing challenges in primary maths: problem solving. Despite being one of the three core aims of the curriculum, problem solving is still too often treated as something we “do at the end” rather than something we explicitly teach. Drawing on classroom experience, research, and a classic article by Mike Askew, they explore the d...